


A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

by Aviss



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:48:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22911991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviss/pseuds/Aviss
Summary: Iruka gets badly injured while hunting for an animal who is more than it appears and has killed several people in his village. He wakes up in a stranger's place where the man who saved his life is nursing him back to health, though his host also has some secrets of his own.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 18
Kudos: 93
Collections: KakaIru 2019 Mini Bingo!





	A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

**Author's Note:**

> For the Mythical Beings and Creatures of my Mini Bingo.  
> I have based the Werewolves in Teen Wolf, so same rules as in there apply (eye colour and accelerated healing and enhanced senses), it is explained in the fic though, for those who have not seen the show.  
> I was hoping to finish this before the 1st of March, I have most of the rest already written, but RL got in the way and I'm travelling, so I decided to port this part now.

The house Iruka wakes up in is little more than a wooden hut, small and dark in spite of the fire merrily burning in the hearth. The floor is packed sand and the walls unpolished dark wood, in one corner there's a table with a lone plate and glass and two empty chairs. He is lying on a lumpy mattress on the floor, covered in blankets and furs to keep warm, and Iruka has no idea how he got here, or even where here is, his mind fuzzy with sleep and something else, something elusive that doesn't let him think clearly.

He tries to move a bit, lift his head so he can check the rest of his surroundings. As soon as he has shifted a stab of pain in his side steals all the breath from his lungs, rendering him immobile, and he bites back the scream of agony that wants to rip from his throat. He must not be completely successful, and he sees out of the corner of his eye how a shadow detaches itself from the wall and approaches him.

The Beast, he thinks inanely and would have flinched if he could move at all. As it is, he's still trying to catch his breath when the shadow enters the light of the fire and transforms into a man.

"Don't move, you're going to pull your stitches," the man says softly, kneeling next to Iruka. He puts a hand on top of Iruka's forehead, his brow furrowing in worry. "You're still burning up." He stands again and heads back into the shadows, only to return a second later with a glass of water.

Iruka drinks it greedily before he tastes the faint bitterness in it, some kind of drug, and he glares at the man even as he slips back into unconsciousness.

…

There is a lot more light in the hut when Iruka wakes again, still drowsy and slow but more clear-headed than before.

He still has no idea where he is or who the man who drugged him was, but he knows how he got here. Or at least he has some idea because if what he remembers is correct, he should be dead.

Iruka had been hunting the Beast of Konoha, but it had found him first, and he had gone from hunter to prey in the span of a heartbeat.

How is he even alive?

He can see it in his mind, the tracks leading him deep into the west side of the forest, the blood trail that made him lose his calm and charge blindly ahead, the image of the last victim seared in his retinas. It had been a trap, It's clear now that the legends are true and the beast has a human side, even if that side is monstrous, and is very capable of complex thinking. He'd followed the trail to a clearing, and there Iruka had faced it. Nothing in his many years hunting all sort of animals had prepared Iruka for this one, for the sight of those red eyes staring at him from that twisted face. The claws and fur and fangs he had expected, the sheer mass of it and the way it stood on its hind legs to attack, twisted and vicious, had been what blindsided Iruka.

He'd defended himself as best he could, but once his weapons had proved ineffective, he'd known all his hand to hand combat experience would be useless against a monster such as this. He'd been right, the last Iruka remembers of the fight is the unbearable pain of the beast's claws slicing his side, and the crack of his head against the ground before the darkness had rushed to take him.

There was more, he thinks. Right before he passed out he heard another roar answering the beast's triumphant one.

"You're awake, how are you feeling?"

Iruka looks up to see the same man from before standing next to his cot; he must have been more lost in his memories than he thought to have missed his approach.

"In pain," he croaks, his mouth desert dry.

The man nods and moves away only to return with a glass of water, and Iruka looks at it with suspicion. The man smiles, easily reading the mistrust on Iruka's face. "Your fever broke last night, this is just water."

He takes the proffered glass and drinks, a tiny sip at first and then long great gulps, once he's convinced it's safe. He uses that time to study the man; he's tall and lean, a sharp body of defined lines and corded muscle evident under his robe, a long graceful neck and a thin and angular face topped by gravity-defying white hair. The face is attractive enough, almost beautiful, with a sharp jaw and high cheekbones, a wide full mouth and mismatched eyes, one of them crossed by a long scar, the only imperfection Iruka can see.

"Thanks," Iruka says handing the glass back. His voice sounds normal again thanks to the water, though he's nowhere close to feeling normal himself. "Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You are in my house, I brought you here from the clearing where I found you almost dead, and my name is Kakashi," he replies, and it doesn't escape Iruka that Kakashi has not answered any of his questions, not really.

"Kakashi, how did you find me? And where exactly is your house? Who are--" he begins, intent on repeating his questions.

"What's your name?" Kakashi interrupts him, and Iruka feels a flush crawling on his face at his own rudeness. It should have been the first thing he did, introduce himself to the person helping him.

"Iruka."

"Iruka, you are still injured and need to rest some more," Kakashi says, standing up from his position next to the cot. "I'll prepare some food, sleep and I'll wake you up when it's done."

Iruka wants to say it's not necessary, he's fine, but the words won't leave his mouth and he really is exhausted, their short conversation has wiped out whatever energy he had. He closes his eyes and goes back to sleep without protest, there will be time for more questions later. 

…

The soup Kakashi prepares is hearty and delicious, enough to bring some warmth Iruka had not realised he was missing. They eat in silence, Iruka too ravenous to waste breath in conversation when there is food to be consumed, Kakashi probably glad for the reprieve from Iruka's curiosity. When it's done, Iruka is pleasantly filled and drowsy, and he falls back asleep as soon as Kakashi takes the bowl from him.

He dreams of the slavering beast bent over him, its maw twisted into a satisfied grin as it leans closer to rip out Iruka's throat. He dreams of a roar loud enough to resonate in his bones, and of another beast crashing into the clearing. He dreams of snarls and growls and finally an inhuman howl of pain, of the face of the other beast with red blood dripping from its fangs as it closes on Iruka to finish what the first one started. He dreams of the twisted face transforming into that of Kakashi's concerned one, lips still as red as his eyes, and thinks, why did you save me then?

When he wakes up again, a bit stronger than before, the dream has vanished from his mind completely.

…

The next day dawns early for Iruka, the orange light of morning spilling through the window and gently rousing him. He feels refreshed after the long rest of the previous day, though his side is still a long line of pain and he doesn't think he will be going anywhere just yet.

He's awake enough to get some answers out of his host, though. He looks for him but there is nobody in the hut but Iruka, no place for another person to sleep except the cot he's currently using. Iruka wonders where Kakashi has slept, guiltily eyeing the lack of options around.

The door opens then, and as if summoned by Iruka's thoughts Kakashi enters the hut. He has some small game in his hand, a freshly killed rabbit by the looks of it, answering the question of where he was, and he smiles when he sees Iruka awake.

"Good morning, Iruka," he closes the door and heads to the furthest corner of the hut. He leaves the rabbit on top of a counter, the pantry or kitchen if Iruka has to guess, and then fills a pot with water and takes it to the hearth, where the fire is banked but not dead. "How are you feeling?"

Iruka watches him as he rekindles the fire and puts the water to boil. "Much better, thanks." Kakashi approaches the cot and puts his hand on Iruka's forehead, looking intently at him. This close Iruka can see his eyes, one of them is so dark it looks almost black while the other one is covered by a whitish layer.

"Your fever is completely gone," he says, and he removes his hand from Iruka's forehead only to move it to his torso "I need to change your bandages and check the wound on your side."

It is a reasonable request, Iruka nods and allows Kakashi to open the yukata he's wearing. "Are you a doctor?" He asks while deft hands peel the sodden bandages and gently wipe at the gouges on his side.

"No, but I was a soldier once," Kakashi replies without lifting his head from his task. "I know enough field medicine for this." Once the wound is cleaned they can see how bad it is. There are three jagged gouges, deep and nasty looking stitched together as much as possible, an image of the beast's wicked claws coming to the forefront of Iruka's mind, and the skin surrounding them is inflamed and red. Kakashi presses lightly on one of them, and Iruka has to bite back a curse at the pain. A trickle of whitish fluid seeps from the wound, and Kakashi frowns at it. "It's healing, but the wound is infected."

"It was to be expected," Iruka says with a shrug. Those claws had not looked clean after all.

Kakashi stands and retrieves the boiling water, moving to the kitchen area under Iruka's attention. Now that he is awake and the fever's gone he follows his movements as he brews a drink with some herbs, and also makes a poultice with tiny purple flowers. He notices how Kakashi puts on gloves before he starts working with the flowers, and how he keeps his face as far as possible from it as if they emit a foul stench he's trying not to breathe.

"What is that?" Iruka asks when he gets back, the poultice in a bowl held in front of him.

"Something to help with the infection." Iruka frowns but allows Kakashi to put the mixture on his wound and redress it, gritting his teeth at the sting; so far Kakashi has done nothing but care for him, and nothing makes Iruka believe he harbours any ill intentions towards him. If he wanted Iruka dead, he only needed to have left him where he found him. "This will also help."

He gives Iruka a mug with the drink he has brewed and takes another for himself. A tiny sip reveals nothing but chamomile and a bit of honey in it, and Iruka drinks it while Kakashi busies himself in the kitchen again.

"You live here on your own? Why live so far from the village?" Iruka asks, the mug cradled in his hands. Now that they are both awake and in the same place, he intends to get the answer to his many questions. "How did you find me? Have you seen or heard the beast before? Were you the one who stopped it killing me?"

Kakashi throws him a look over his shoulder, something like amusement in his dark eye. "You're going to keep asking, are you not?"

Iruka nods. "I am curious."

"I live here," Kakashi begins, turning his attention back to his task of skinning the rabbit. "Because after the war I didn't want to be around other people." He doesn't elaborate, and Iruka doesn't need him to; he had also been part of the fighting in the last war and knows the kind of scars it left behind. "I have everything I could want here, the forest provides me with game and fruit, and I make a run occasionally to the village for anything else I might need." Iruka's eyes land on a pile of much-loved books in a corner stacked haphazardly and tilting perilously forward. "I found you by chance, I was hunting and stumbled upon you. At first, I thought you were dead."

That's the first outright lie to come out of Kakashi's mouth, and Iruka doesn't know why he's so sure of it but he is. He doesn't say anything, though. "How long have I been unconscious?"

Kakashi has finished with his preparations, the rabbit skinned and on a spit over the fire, the smell of cooking meat and the sizzle and crackling of the fire remind Iruka he has not eaten yet, and he's starving. "I found you three days ago. I wasn't sure if you were going to make it until your fever broke yesterday." He brings a plate with bread and cold meats to Iruka, and sits next to the cot. "What were you doing in the forest on your own? What is that about a beast?"

Again Iruka can't help the feeling Kakashi is not being honest with him, his question misleading, and again he chooses to say nothing of it for reasons he doesn't even know.

"There have been some attacks around Konoha," he explains while they eat the spread Kakashi has arranged for their breakfast. The meats are unexpectedly tasty, the bread soft and delicately flavoured, not what Iruka had imagined a person living in the middle of nowhere would have. "It started with animals; at first we thought a fox, or maybe a feral dog was responsible for them but after a while, the attacks became too vicious to be a hungry animal. Two weeks ago it started attacking humans." He thinks of the first victim, old Kawaguchi, who had been strong and fast when he was young and had not become so feeble with age to be taken by a feral dog. That was when the rumours about the Beast started, and the next victims only made them harder to ignore. "Animals, even rabid ones, don't just maul someone like that. They appeared to have been killed for sport."

Kakashi's face is unreadable as he stares at Iruka. "How many victims has it claimed?"

"Five, so far." The last one, Kireina, barely a child and the granddaughter of one of the elders. Her father's grieving face and the sight of her body were enough to send the entire village into a rage. It had made Iruka careless, not that he is about to admit it.

"You went after it, after this beast that has killed five people?" There's no judgement in Kakashi's voice and expression, just curiosity, but it still gets Iruka's back up. "On your own?"

"You're not the only fighter from the last war," he snaps, harsher than he intended, Kakashi's only reaction an arched eyebrow and a slight tightening around his eyes. Iruka feels ashamed immediately and takes a deep breath to calm himself. Much softer, almost like an apology, he continues. "I became a hunter after the war, I've captured all kind of animals, I know how to track them and how to lay traps. I was the best choice, the only choice, to go after a dangerous one. But this beast is like nothing I have encountered before, it feels almost..."

Iruka trails off, remembering the thing he fought against, how it stood on its hind legs, bipedal and menacing, how its red eyes looked intelligent and bloodthirsty, and so triumphant when it had Iruka cornered.

"Human," Kakashi finishes for him.

"There's nothing human in such a monster," he spits venomously, startled at his own vehemence.

Kakashi says nothing, just regards him gravely and lets the conversation drop.

They finish eating in a charged silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts until Kakashi stands up and gathers the empty plate and cups, takes them to the kitchen and cleans them.

"I'm going to check the rest of the traps," he says softly when he's done and leaves Iruka alone with nothing better to do that close his eyes and think.

...

Iruka doesn't remember falling asleep, but he wakes up and the light in the hut tells him he has been out for at least a few hours. Kakashi's back, sitting at the table with a cup of tea and a book, his entire focus on the pages in front of him. The book is obviously a favourite, dog eared and with the spine cracked, the front cover so faded it's impossible to read the name. Kakashi's expression as he reads, the smile on his face as his eyes follow the words, the care of his fingers on each page when he turns them, speak of his love for it.

He looks content and soft, and Iruka feels like he's intruding on a private moment.

"What are you reading?" He asks voice husky from sleep, calling attention to the fact that he's awake.

Kakashi looks up from his book lazily, his lack of surprise letting Iruka know he was aware of his scrutiny.

"Icha Icha Paradise." He presents the cover to Iruka as if a change of angle would make it easier to read the faded cover. "I have the entire collection if you want some reading material."

"I don't want to impose--"

"Nonsense, you're not going to move from that bed in at least another day." Kakashi stands and gets a book from the towering pile, skillfully plucking it out of the stack without the rest of them falling. He goes to the kitchen and prepares a tea, and brings both to Iruka who smiles his thanks.

Kakashi resumes his reading in silence, and Iruka does the same, sipping his drink while he tries to concentrate on the words in front of him. He can't, his mind is going over the conversation he had with Kakashi before, over his refusal to think of the beast as anything but a monster. But Kakashi had been right; it had felt intelligent, and malevolent, and cruel in a way only humans knew how to be.

Iruka realises he's been lost in his thoughts for a long time, the book opened on his lap still on the first page, when Kakashi hands him another one.

"Maybe this book will keep your interest better than the other one," he says, deftly swapping them.

"Sorry, I--" he begins awkwardly, but Kakashi cuts him off with a careless wave of his hand.

"Not everyone enjoys reading erotica, or so I've been told." He shoots Iruka a mischievous look, and he feels his face heating at the implication that is what Kakashi's reading.

He opens his book and starts reading it to cover his embarrassment, and immediately he finds himself immersed in the pages. The book is one about legends, some of them he already knows, like the changelings or the fox spirits, but told in a way that feels more reality than fantasy. There are beautiful drawings of each creature, from the fair and deadly fae to the grotesque Tsuchigumo, and explanations of how they supposedly came to be and where to be found. And most intriguing, how to defeat them. This is no normal book, it takes Iruka just a few moments to realize that, the covers are hand-bound leather with no title printed, apart from the detailed art in the pages the script varies, always beautifully crafted but some pages have a distinct slant on the characters where others appear to have been rushed. This is no fantasy book, it looks more like a hunting manual for supernatural creatures. Iruka's fascinated.

The light changes around him, and at some point, the empty mug next to his cot is replaced for a full one, a new platter of food by its side. Iruka looks up from the book to thank Kakashi, blinking rapidly as if coming out of a trance, but he's nowhere to be seen. The hut is almost in darkness, except for the few spaces illuminated by candlelight, and out of the window he can see dusk falling. With a shrug, Iruka picks his new drink and returns to his reading.

He's just finished a chapter about the Onikuma when he turns the page and is confronted with the image of the Beast. Iruka freezes, his hands clenching around the book, and takes a deep breath. There are three different drawings of this particular creature, on one side is a fully-formed wolf with bright red eyes, the fur dark and thick, on the other side a man of average features, strongly built but the kind one might cross on the street without looking at twice. It's the picture in the middle that makes Iruka's hair stand on end. It's the beast he remembers, not quite man and not quite wolf, bipedal and twisted, with too long clawed arms and feet and an elongated head ending on a canine maw, bright red eyes and bristly fur the colour of mud.

Werewolf, the book names it, and Iruka thinks it a fitting title for the creature.

He reads the entire chapter avidly, not skipping any word in fear of missing something. Distantly he hears the door opening, but he doesn't lift his eyes from the book, too focused to worry about his rudeness towards Kakashi. It's the first time he has read about this particular creature, and though Iruka doesn't know which parts of the book are fiction and which are based in reality, it's the confirmation he wanted that what he encountered in the forest wasn't just in his imagination.

Werewolves are the only kind of shifters that can be born as well as made, one of the paragraphs of the book reads, not the result of a curse, and while they are ferocious and dangerous, they are not by necessity, evil. Some of the oldest packs have assimilated into society, taking the role of protectors of the villages they reside in, and hunting those of their kind who have become twisted and prey on innocents.

It explains more about the social structures of werewolf packs, about Alphas and Betas and Omegas. Red eyes mean Alpha, the most dangerous and strongest of the wolves, the heads of packs and the only ones with the ability to create new members of a pack. It tells about how the bite or scratch of an Alpha can turn a normal human into one of them, and how wolves without pack turn violent and unhinged. The beast had read eyes, Iruka remembers, his hand moving reflexively to his side where the deep scratches still throb. It talks about the moon, and how the pull of the full moon exacerbates the blood lust in those without control of their impulses, makes them stronger, more ruthless.

It wasn't the full moon when he went after the beast, but the dark of the new moon, and he wonders how he would have fared against the beast in the peak of its strength.

At some point, Iruka falls asleep with the book still open in his hands and doesn't notice when Kakashi stands from the chair and removes it from his hand, eyes fixed on the page he's reading, before closing the book and taking the empty mug and plate to the kitchen to be washed.

…

Iruka is back in that clearing in his dream, the beast snarling on his face ready to kill him when its head perks up listening to a howl, loud and urgent and menacing. 

Something crashes into the clearing through the trees, a wolf but not like any wolf Iruka has seen before; it's huge, with black fur that looks soft and inviting and eyes as red as the beast's. There is a white line of fur crossing one of its eyes, the only spot of white Iruka can see aside from his big teeth. Almost faster than Iruka can follow the wolf has the beast away from Iruka, their snarls and howls filling the clearing until there is a sudden scramble and there is only the black wolf left. Iruka blinks and there is a man with a scar where the white fur was, eyes still shining red. 

_Kakashi_. 

"You're going to be alright, hold on," he says, his hands pressing against Iruka's wound and darkness comes to take him.

When Iruka wakes up again the light indicates morning is well underway, there is some food and a warm cup of tea next to the cot and Kakashi is nowhere to be seen. 

He picks up the tea, the last wisps of the dream still clear in his mind. He casts his mind back to the book, then to the things he has observed these past few days. The flower poultice used on his wounds: aconite, lethal for wolves according to the book. Kakashi had not touched them without gloves at all, had tried to not even breathe them. 

It fits, it's the thing. The beast was going to kill him and was stopped by something stronger. 

Kakashi didn't just _find_ him.

Iruka should be terrified of him, the huge wolf who can pass for human, but he's not. It's difficult to feel fear of the person who saves your life and nurses you back to health, who arms you with the knowledge of how to kill him. Iruka has rarely felt as safe as he feels in Kakashi's hut, and he's only known the man for a few days.

Once he finishes his breakfast, he tries to get up from the cot, panting with the effort to move after days of forced bed rest and the agony of his injuries. His side is still blazing with pain, but he can move a bit. He's not going anywhere just yet, that much is clear when he collapses on the chair Kakashi had been occupying before, his strength completely spent. He can see the book he was reading on the table and deems his effort well spent. 

"Good morning, Iruka," Kakashi says sometime later, the sound of the door opening and closing taking Iruka out of his musings. "I can see you're feeling better today."

"I am, thanks to you," Iruka replies with a smile. It's the truth, and also it has occurred him while he was sitting there that he has not thanked Kakashi properly, not only for saving his life but also taking care of him and allowing him in his space. Most people wouldn't do half as much for a stranger, not without expecting something in return. And while there is a possibility that Kakashi might yet ask for some kind of payment, Iruka doubts it. He's only known his host for a few days, but Iruka has always been a good judge of character.

"I couldn't leave you there," Kakashi says with a shrug, clearly uncomfortable. 

"You could, most people would have."

Kakashi drops the things in his hand in the kitchen and then sits next to Iruka, his hands on top of the table. "I am not most people." 

Iruka smiles at him and takes the hand closest to him, shocking both of them. "No, _you're not._ " 

Kakashi visibly startles before two spots of colour bloom on his cheeks. "Did you enjoy the book?" He asks, his eyes darting to the closed tome. He hasn't taken his hand from Iruka's though it's clear in the tension of his shoulders it's costing him some effort. Iruka squeezes it and removes his hands to grab the book again.

"It was very edifying," he says, not opening it, his eyes focused on Kakashi's expression. "Wolfsbane, that's what the poultice you applied to my wounds is, isn't?" Iruka says, and Kakashi inclines his head slightly in acknowledgement.

"It is, I have a nice patch growing not far from here."

"Isn't it dangerous for you?" Iruka asks, softly enough Kakashi can choose to ignore it. 

Kakashi takes a deep breath and stands up from the table, he goes to the kitchen to busy himself, his shoulders hunched. "Tea?" he asks, clanging pots and pans a bit harder than necessary.

"Thanks." Iruka looks down to the book again and this time he opens it on the right page, looking at the drawings again. The wolf, red-eyed and majestic, calls to him. He brushes his finger over the drawing. "You brought me here to see if I would turn, isn't that right? The scratches are deep enough that I might turn and become a wolf myself."

"No, that's what the poultice is for," Kakashi finally says, his back still to Iruka. "I would also be able to smell it on you if you were going to."

"Oh, so I'm safe." Iruka almost melts onto the uncomfortable chair, letting go of a tension he had not been aware he was carrying.

"I wouldn't say that. Chiharu is definitely coming back for you," Kakashi turns back then, his face set on grim lines, his hands filled with cups and the teapot. "I think she's coming back on the full moon when she's going to be strongest."

"Chiharu?"

"The one you fought, _The Beast_." Kakashi looks down at his hands, his voice low and filled with regret. "My worst mistake."

A shiver of pure terror crawls down Iruka's spine. He remembers his fight with Chiharu, or whatever his name is, the Beast, and how outmatched he was. He remembers the fear and the pain and the terrible, helpless despair when he had realized he was going to die there. Iruka grits his teeth and lets a slow breath out. This time will be different. This time he's not alone. "You're keeping me here as bait, then," he says, the truth of the statement plain on Kakashi's expression. "I thought it was to keep an eye on me in case I turned."

"It was, for the first couple of days," Kakashi admits easily. "But after your fever broke I couldn't smell anything but the normal type of infection on you, I knew you weren't turning and weren't dying either. You're in no condition to go back to your village, anyway." He drinks from his cup and Iruka does the same, trying to order his thoughts. "Let me ask you something, Iruka, why are you not afraid of me?"

"What makes you think I'm not?" 

Kakashi gives him an unimpressed look. "I can hear your heartbeat, can smell the chemosignals for most emotions. You should be afraid of me, wolves without a pack are dangerous, especially Alpha wolves," his eyes glow red, even the injured on. Iruka's heart picks up speed though it's not fear he's feeling. Not quite. "Oh."

Iruka clears his throat, forcing down the blush that tries to crawl up his face. "You don't look unstable to me, I would be dead if it wasn't for you."

"You said there is nothing human in us; I half expected you to either be halfway to your village by now or to have tried to kill me."

He could have, there are knives in the kitchen and Iruka remembers Kakashi putting aside some of the wolfsbane flowers when he brought them in. He has left them easily accessible in the kitchen, and according to the book if he coats a knife in the extract of the flowers it becomes a deadly weapon against a wolf. Iruka has been on his own most of the morning, he could have prepared a weapon, Kakashi has given Iruka enough clues and time for it.

"There is nothing human in Chiharu," he finally says thinking of the people killed, of the hunger in its eyes when it was about to rip Iruka's throat. "But I have the feeling it would be the same even if she wasn't a werewolf." Humans had always had the potential to become monsters, that is something Iruka knows well, that any soldier knows well.

They stare at each other in silence for a bit, the air between them filled with tension. finally, Kakashi drinks from his cup and lets out a deep exhale. "You are a very peculiar person, Iruka," he says, leaning back on his chair and grabbing a book from the teetering pile, the conversation clearly over.

Iruka moves his gaze back to his own book and re-reads the section about werewolves, committing every single detail to memory before moving to the next creature.

He wonders how many of them are more than legends.

...


End file.
